The Fox's Contract
by Technical Mercy
Summary: In which a very male Naruto discovers how to use powers that he never asked for while a certain nine-tailed demon laughs at his expense; and who the hell forced Naruto into heels? A different take on the Naruto and Bayonetta crossovers, with a focus on how an Umbra Witch learns to use their powers.
1. Chapter 1

Why bother thinking I own the characters, It will only end in the oddities such as this.

**Demon Speaking/Jutsu**

_Thinking/_**_Demon Thinking_**

* * *

><p>Naruto's eyes snapped open as he quickly bolted straight up, the sounds of his panting echoing through the stone hallways. He looked around <em>"What the-Where am I?"<em>

The air was damp and musky, an uncovered lightbulb above him flickered. The floor was covered with a layer of water up to his ankles, causing the blonde to wonder about the logic of wearing sandals as a ninja. Naruto sat and thought about his predicament. _"I was at the bridge…Sasuke was trapped in that hunter nin's Mirror jutsu with me, then he got ki-"_

Naruto froze, the scene replaying in his head. Sasuke on the ground filled with senbon, himself powerless to do anything. "_I need to get out of here!_ _Sakura and Kakashi-sensei need me!"_

With that thought in mind he took off down the tunnel to search for an exit, before being knocked off his feet by a gale of wind that came from behind, causing the young ninja to face plant into the water. "OW! The hell?" he shouted as he spun around to look down the hallway that the blast had come from.

Only to fall flat on his face again when the air itself seemed to be pulled from around him, rocketing down that hallway.

_"What's causing this…?" _ the blonde asked himself as he slowly attempted to regain his footing, only for another gale to shoot back from the passageway in front of him, knocking him on his back. He stood and regained his footing, rubbing his backside in an attempt to dull the pain.

And then he fell on his face again as the air was pulled from around him and rushed back down the hallway, the force seeming stronger then before. Naruto, not to let such a simple thing get the better of him, jumped back to his feet after it had passed. He took a stance, preparing to combat another gust from the tunnel, channeling chakra into his feet to stay standing.

The blast struck again as the blonde shielded his eyes with his arms, this time not getting knocked down. He took a step forward after it stopped, and then another.

The air around him was pulled back down the hallway as Naruto took another step, almost falling again. _"I need to time this correctly or I'm going to get blown down."_

A few seconds later and the air stopped being pulled down the tunnel. Naruto started running down the hallway, only to stop a few seconds later as another blast of air flew down tunnel. After that passed he took off sprinting again, stopping soon after as the air was pulled from around him. _"Around four-seconds between blast and pull…another two after pull" _He thought as the tugging gale stopped, allowing him to breath in without the air getting ripped from his lungs. _"At this rate I'm going to be as ancient as the Hokage before I can get out of here." _His thoughts where interrupted when he made a troubling observation.

_"The water."_

The blond ninja then realized that the water he was standing in barely showed any signs of being disturbed by the harsh wind. As he held up against another blast, he saw that the water continued moving with slight ripples coming from the hallway that the blasts would originate from. Naruto smiled, now understanding what was going on. As the blast stopped he made the Seal of Confrontation. **Kai!**

And any hope that this was a genjutsu was shattered as nothing changed, and Naruto fell on his face with a splash again as the air was pulled down the hallway. He pulled his head up from the murky water, rather annoyed now. After he got back to his feet and held up against the predictable blast of wind that came after the pull, he continued sprinting down the hallway, following the water ripples to their source, eager to find the exit.

Instead he found himself in a massive room, the ripples slowly coming from a massive cage that held only darkness, of which the blonde's eyes could not pierce. The doors to the cage were sealed with a slip of paper. Naruto's thoughts on the matter were then interrupted as another sudden pull of air threatened to tear the young ninja off of his feet and into the darkness.

Naruto responded by releasing an active flash bomb from his hand. The small sphere was easily pulled into the cage, the pull of air suddenly stopping.

Then a sudden deafening sound echoed from the cage, reverberating off of the walls. Naruto was forced to crouch as the air being pulled into the cage increase in speed. Then, all at once, the gale reversed, threatening to send Naruto out the door and back down the hallway. A blinding flash of light signifying the successful detonation of the flash bomb was seen, illuminating a terrifying vision.

The pictures back at the academy could only show a small portion of the horror, they could only give a small hint of the terror that the village had felt upon seeing this beast, the blood red hair brisling with anger; the mouth filled with death, each tooth twice the size of a fully grown man; The head, at least the size of the room he was in. The Kyūbi no Yõko, The Nine-Tailed Fox, the demon that was sealed within him, its face illuminated by the brief flash from the light bomb. The Nightmare now forever burned into his mind.

A massive tempest slammed against Naruto, pushing him back to the doorway where he held on for dear life, the roar tearing at his clothes as it shot past him. After what felt like a minute when in reality was only a few seconds the infernal roar stopped. By some miracle the blonde ninja was able to stay within the room.

Only to be thrown to his feet by a loud voice that caused the room to tremble in its wake. The air being seared by the very nature of the speaker.

**"Who disturbs my slumber?"**

The demon's eyes burn with a wicked light, the smell of sulphur suddenly filling the damp air, burning it away until nothing but a dry breeze remains, harsh on the lungs of the young ninja.

Naruto was petrified by fear. The very presence of the entity before him oozing nothing but malicious power. His voice caught in his dehydrated throat, causing the young ninja to gasp, his voice cracking.

The demon's eyes flicked down to the small mortal life in front of it. Its mouth widened into a massive grin, the teeth shining unnaturally in the darkness. When it spoke, the very air was blown back from its wicked speech.

**"To what do I owe the honor of my pathetic human jailer's presence before me?"**

The object of the demon's focus coughed, backing up from the cage. His face was pale with fright as he stared at the immense demon.

Said immense demon held back a horrid laugh at the look of terror on it's jailer's face.

**"Well, Brat? Speak." **The demon commanded, studying the tiny human before it.

Naruto finally found his voice, his eyes narrowed when he felt the blast of air hit his face from the demon's voice. He got angry, standing swiftly and pointing an accusing finger at the vile monster. "It's your fault!"

The demon raised an eyebrow, not expecting the human to regain his confidence nor for the mortal to then accuse it of something. It's grin widened, its eyes had a spark of unwanted mirth.

**"Yes, It was I, the Kyūbi no Yōko who attacked your precious village, Know fear and temb-"**

"Not that!" the blonde yelled; his voice filled with irritation, catching the demon by surprise. "It's your fault that I was getting blown back and forth in the hallway just trying to get here!"

The demon just stared at the human, its eyes blinking.

The human kept his finger pointed at the demon.

The demon blinked.

The human pointed.

The demon spoke one simple word.

**"What?"**

Confused was the best way to describe the horrid voice as it shook the room with its echo.

Naruto frowned, using his annoyance to overcome his fear. He pointed at the demon again, his irked voice reaching the massive demon.

"It's your fault! You trapped me in this horrid place, I command you to let me out!"

Naruto regretted his actions not one-second later when an aura of pure hatred collided with him, sending him to his knees from the shear oppressive feeling that it brought.

**"You dare command me, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, to let YOU out when it is I who is trapped in this wretched sewer you call your mind?"** The demon fox shouted, a tick mark appearing on its forehead as it lashed out against the cage. **"Not to mention that you interrupted my nap!"**

Naruto immediately stopped, his anger replaced by curiosity. "I interrupted your nap?"

**"Yes, you loathsome brat! You interrupted my nap, then threw something up my nose!"** The demon roared, it's tails slamming against the cage in anger.

"Well, you roared at me!" The blonde shot back.

**"That was a sneeze!" **The demon retorted.

"It was a Hurricane!"

**"You blinded me!"**

"It was a flash bomb!"

**"It was irritating!"**

"I couldn't see!"

**"Then turn on the lights!"** The demon said, fury spilling fourth from its pores.

Naruto stopped, the demon's last statement causing his brow to furrow. "I have lights in my mind?" he said finally.

**"By all that is wicked and evil! Are you dense?"** the demon asked, exasperated.

"Um…where are-" Naruto began, before he was interrupted.

**"Behind you Brat!"** The demon shouted, its face distorted in unholy anger.

Naruto turned around and saw that, indeed, there was a small light switch on the wall. He walked over and flicked it, before turning around.

Even though he had been arguing with the demon for the past minute, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was looking at him, its face contoured in a snarl as the ninja continued to stare upon its mighty build. **"Does the sight of my form terrify you into silence pathetic mortal?"**

Naruto continued to stare dumbly at Fox's form, from it's nine tails that promised nothing but death upon those that saw them, to its mighty claws that seemed to slice at the very air around them with pure malicious intent before finding his voice. "You have massive ears!"

**"Really?"** The Fox roared, its voice now screaming for blood. **"My whole body and you focus on my ears?"**

Naruto was doing the accusing pointing of the finger thing again. "How the hell are you a fox?"

**"I'm a Demonic Fennec Fox."** The demon roared, sending another shockwave of hatred at the child.

Naruto recovered quickly and remained standing much to the demon's surprise. "The hell is a Fennec Fox?"

**"This!"** The demon then made what could only be describe as pure unadulterated abuse of the very concept of sound.

Naruto clutched his ears at the ungodly screech that threatened to rupture his ear drums as it echoed off the walls of the sewer, multiplying its horrid sounds. After a minute the sound stopped, and Naruto held his now bleeding ears in pain as he was curled up in a fetal position laying on his side.

The demon smirked, happy with the horror it had inflicted on the air and on the mortal.

"What the hell was that!" Naruto screamed after the ringing in his head stopped.

**"Fennec Fox."** The demon stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto sat with his arms and legs crossed deciding wisely to not pursue that subject anymore. "How the hell do I get out of here anyway?"

**"If I knew that do you think I would be here?"** The demon replied, laying its head down to rest on its massive claws.

Naruto got annoyed, a slight twinge of panic in his mind. "If I can't get out of here I can't help Sakura and Kakashi-sensei."

**"Don't care Brat."** The demon replied, closing its eyes.

"Sasuke could be dead!"

**"The Uchiha can burn for all I care." **The demon stated, its massive body curling up.

"I don't want to die here!" The ninja cried out.

The demon stared at the blonde long and hard before finally speaking. **"What would you give?"**

The blonde ninja looked up in surprise, his eyes wide. "W-What?"

The Fox sat up, crossing its arms and frowned. **"What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to see the outside again?"**

Naruto frowned and stared up at the demon. "No way I'm letting you out." He said, his voice serious.

The demon snarled, it's eyes flashing with malice. **"As much as I wish to be free, what I have in mind is more… beneficial."** The word was spoken like a poison, as if the very idea of it was disgusting to the demonic fox.

Naruto glared at the fox, studying it, trying to find out what it was planning. "And what do you have in mind Kyūbi?"

**"A pact, a contract."** The demon explained, its grin widening. **"You will be given the ability to learn powers and knowledge beyond your simple comprehension. Your skin will be hard as steel and your power will not wane with time. Nothing will be able to stand in your way and I will remain here as you wanted."**

"What's the catch?" The blonde asked, his eyes narrowed.

The demon fox chuckled, the sound echoing off the walls as its eyes seemed to glow with pure malicious glee. **"When you die, and your soul will be plunged into the depths of Inferno."**

"So I get the power to protect my friends, and you get to send my soul to this Inferno place when I die?" The blonde asked, frowning. "That hardly seems fair."

The demon let out another exasperated sigh **"Look Brat, You will be able to learn the skills to protect your precious people while I am free to pursue my own goals."**

"And those would be?" The blonde asked, not trusting the demon before him.

**"My amusement at your expense." **The fox said with an unnerving smile.

Naruto let out an irritated sigh, before standing up and thinking about his options. _"If I accept this contract I'll be able to assist my friends…but…" _He looked up at the demon. "One condition."

The demon scowled. **"What Brat?"** It said as it looked down at the puny mortal.

The human returned the stare, his gaze unwavering, "You don't harm my friends."

The horrid beast laughed, its voice shaking the very room, **"You have yourself a deal Naruto Uzumaki."**

And with that, Naruto woke up.

_w.w.w.w.w.w  
><em>

Haku readied another volley of senbon, To be honest, the androgynous ninja was more than a little concerned when the orange clad ninja suddenly went quiet and stopped moving. Perhaps he had given up, but that thought was quickly banished from the mind when said orange clad ninja also started glowing red and leaking out what could only be described as pure malice. The blonde haired ninja looked up, his eyes glowing red.

"I'm gonna kill you." Naruto spoke his feelings, the red chakra now clinging to his form.

_"I have to end this so that I may assist Zabuza-sama"_ Banishing his concerns the faux hunter nin let loose; the air filling with needles as the blonde dodged to the side.

Naruto blinked, before turning his head around and looking at the senbon behind him. He slowly stood up, watching the senbon slowly inch towards him, confusion overtaking his features. "What the hell?" he asked out loud.

_**"Come on, I gave you this time and you waste** **it?"**_ The horrid voice said from behind him.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be freed!" The blonde screamed, wheeling around to try and find the demon.

_**"You are by far the thickest human to ever live." **_The demon replied, the voice still echoing from behind the young ninja.

"Where the hell are-"

_**"By all that is unholy; I am still in your head!"** _The demon interrupted, its voice still somehow slightly deafening the blonde. _**"The contract allows me greater ease in communicating with you, not that you have anything important to say."**_

Naruto was about to give a really good comeback when what ever had slowed down the senbon vanished, causing the medical tools to resume their actual velocity. The blonde ninja raised his hands in defense as he felt several more of the needles sink into his flesh, a stab of pain accompanying each. An internal infernal voice screamed at him to move and the blonde, who at this point desperately wanting out of the senbon storm, sidestepped.

A ripple of energy seemed to radiate out of Naruto's form, causing the senbon still approaching him to slow down to a crawl. Naruto looked around for a moment, before running over to Sasuke, brushing needles out of the air as he went. _"How much time do I have?" _He mentally asked as he bent down to pick up his rival and friend.

_**"30 seconds, You touch the Uchiha and I can't help you."**_ The voice stated, causing the blonde to freeze.

_"Why not?"_

_**"Because he lacks a contract and you will not allow me to harm your friends."**_

_"What does the lack of a contract have to do with it?"_

The demon sighed, obviously hating having to explain this to the ninja. _**"The human body can not safely travel at the speeds you are now. My power protects you, but if you where to grab this corpse, it would be pulled apart by the speeds, spraying blood and flesh**_** everyw-"** The demon seemed to pause for a second. _**"Actually I lied, pick him up."**_

_"No."_ The ninja replied, earning a growl of irritation from the demon before standing up again.

_**"Well at least throw a kunai or something at a** **mirror, you would be **__**wasting this time if you didn't."**_

Naruto sighed in annoyance. "That_ won't work against-"_

**_"Just d__o__ it."_** the demon interrupted, just as annoyed.

_"Fine."_ Naruto reached down and pulled out a kunai, throwing it at a mirror while at the same time the blonde's accelerated awareness stopped.

Haku's eyes widened as the blonde seemed to have teleported over to his fallen teammate before the sound of a mirror shattering caught his attention, the ice falling down as the blonde ran toward his current mirror. _"Impossible...how did he-"_ Haku's thoughts were interrupted as the blonde punched his mirror, causing it to meet the same fate as its other. The faux hunter nin flew from one of the shards, intent on stabbing the boy with a senbon before the orange nin dodged. Haku quickly leapt towards the safety of another mirror, only for it to shatter when the blonde suddenly appeared from behind it, his eyes glowing a fearsome blue.

_**"Punch him Brat!" **_The fox screamed, its voice barely holding the excitement that it felt.

The blonde ninja relaxed in mid air, his whole body hitting the hunter nin and sending the both of them flying through a mirror as the demon screamed at his container's stupidity.

_**"You could have ended it** **Brat!"**_ The demon fox screamed, the echos of its tails lashing against the ground filling the mind of the blonde as both he and the hunter nin rolled across the bridge. _**"Why did you not kill him?"**_

After a minute and the young ninja regained his footing; he answered his sponsor's question. "You_ are trying to destroy me..."_

Haku barely stood up, his mask starting to fall off of his face. He looked to the orange wearing child in front of him, before his eyes were drawn to the blonde's hand. His eyes widened in shock.

Naruto's hand was crushed, blood dripping out of the impacted flesh. This was not what held the hunter nin's attention though; what did was that the blonde ninja's hand was slowly expanding, filling itself out to it's original size. Within half a minute the blonde lifted his hand and flexed it, before looking up at Haku.

_"What...What are you?"_ Haku managed to stammer out as the blue eyed ninja stepped forward, slowly approaching the false hunter nin. The blonde answered by looking up at Haku and blinking.

"Your Haku." He replied, sounding rather shocked.

The androgynous male blinked, before looking down at the mask that was no longer on his face. The loyal tool of Zabuza stood up straight, his face hardening. "Naruto Uzumaki," The false hunter said. "Why have you stopped?"

"W-what?" Naruto stammered, caught off guard by the question.

"Did you not vow to avenge your comrade?" The Hunter asked. "Did you not vow to end my life?"

_**"Yes!"**_ The gleeful voice in his head screamed.

"My usefulness to Zabuza-sama in no more." Haku explained.

_**"Do it!"**_

"No! I- I won't kill you!" the blonde declared.

"I beg of you to end my life."

_**"See, he is literally asking for it!" **_The demonic fox screamed,_ **"It's a good deed! You love those right!"**_

"I refuse." Naruto stated, crossing his arms in defiance.

Haku only stared at him, before his eyes looked out into the mist. "I see...then this is farewell, Naruto."

"Wait! What do-" Naruto only managed to begin his sentence as the feminine male vanished in another mirror.

_**"For the love of! You let your chance get away from you!"**_ The demon roared, enraged at the missed chance to cause a human's destruction.

_"I'm not...I'm...I'm not comfortable with the idea of killing.."_ Naruto weakly replied.

_**"Do you have any idea what it even means to be a ninja?"**_ The fox screamed, banging its fists on the floor of the blonde's mind. _**"Ninja live to kill, to betray, to serve. If you don't kill you are a useless ninja!"**_

Naruto was silent, instead looking up and running towards the shadows he could see in the mist. When the forms took shape, he stopped in shock.

The malicious laughter echoed through his head.

"No..."

_**"He still died!"**_ The demon screamed though its laughter, the very image of its horrid smile worming its way into the blonde's mind.

Before the young ninja was Kakashi-sensei, his arm impaled through the body of the very ninja that the blonde had spared. Blood was running down the corpse's clothing.

Naruto shook, unable to tear his gaze away from the horrid vision as it was permanently burned into his memory.

_**"Even when you are merciful humans die!"**_

Naruto held his head in his hands, covering his eyes in an attempt to hide from the scene. _"Why? Why did it have to work out this way?"_

"Naruto!"

The blonde looked up, trying to shut out the horrid laughter of the fox demon as he turned around to see Sakura running towards him, Tazuna following closely behind her.

"S-Sakura-chan."

"You're okay! Where's Sasuke?" The pink haired kunoichi asked, the eagerness to find their other teammate evident in her eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened, before he turned away from his teammate and stared at his feet. _"That's right...Sasuke's...How? How do I tell her that...How do I tell her that Sasuke's d-"_

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, the worry evident in her tone, her hands clutched under her chin as if to offer up some form of prayer for the safety of her teammate. She watched as the abnormally silent blonde slowly raised his hand, pointing in a direction. Sakura followed the direction with her eyes, her worst fears coming true as she saw her missing teammate lying on the ground. The kunoichi took off, followed closely by the bridge builder.

"Looks like Haku served his purpose wonderfully."

Naruto slowly turned back to Kakashi and Zabuza as the latter brought down his sword in an attempt to bisect Kakashi and by extension Haku's corpse.

Kakashi dodged out of the way, just barely missing the edge of the blade while managing to keep the body of Haku safe. As he gently laid the body down he spotted Naruto approaching. "Naruto! Stay out of this." He ordered before closing the eyes of deceased.

Zabuza charged forward, only to be blocked by Kakashi. As he was about to counterattack, he felt a hand on his shoulder followed by a stab of pain in his only good arm before that too went limp. He looked behind him to see Kakashi standing there.

"I would not be so hasty to speak ill of the dead." The Copy-nin said, withdrawing the hand that had stabbed the silent killer.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "Haku is dead. That is a fact. He was nothing but a tool to be used until he was no longer able to serve."

"How could you?" the blonde asked, his voice just a whisper.

The master of the silent killing technique frowned. "Excuse me?"

"How could you call him a tool?" Naruto demanded, the rage evident on his face. "Did Haku mean nothing to you?"

"The purpose of a shinobi is to die a tool to another." The demon of the Hidden Mist stated, closing his eyes and looking away from the young ninja. "Haku's purpose was to be my tool as I was Gatō's tool. Nothing more."

"Shut up!" the blonde yelled. "Haku cared about you! He sacrificed everything for you! He worked to make you happy, and you would disrespect his memory?" Naruto was fighting back the tears as he continued. "He told me that he grew stronger fighting for someone precious to him. Now I see that his precious person was nothing but a-"

"Shut up." Zabuza growled.

Naruto stopped, blinking away the hot tears.

"Your words hurt me more than any jutsu or blade ever could..." The missing-nin said, slowly turning his tear stained face to the blonde ninja. "Haku...showed me that shinobi might be able to be human..."

The sound of clapping echoed from the end of the bridge, causing all to look up at the sight of a small man wearing a business suit, an unpleasantly happy smile on his face. "Bravo! Bravo!" The man cheered. "While you ninjas were busy tiring each other out, I figured that the town would be ripe for the pickings." Behind the man, a large group of common thugs stood, grinning horribly. "The best part is, I don't even have to pay you, or that bastard kid you kept with you anymore!"

"Gatō" Zabuza spat the name.

Naruto frowned and stepped forward, drawing out a kunai knife.

"Boy..."

Naruto paused, the sound of tearing reaching his ears as the demon of the Hidden Mist bit through his wrappings.

"Lend me that kunai knife." The missing-nin commanded.

The blonde ninja was about to throw it to the swordsman before he remembered what happened last time he threw a kunai. Instead he walked up to Zabuza and offered it to him, handle side first.

The missing-nin quickly took the knife from the blonde, flipping it so that he held it in a firm grip with his teeth. Then the Demon of the Hidden Mist shot forward, his urge to kill the shipping magnate materializing above him in the form of a horrifying vision.

The cowardly business man ran back to his army of thugs and screamed for their help, intend on using them as a shield from the missing-nin.

Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the first row of thugs fail, then the second, until finally the scream of the corrupt businessman was cut short by the sharp iron of the kunai. The severed head of the cruel executive was seen tumbling through the air and off the bridge, a splash being the last reminder of his face. Then it was deathly silent. The thugs slowly turned to look at the blonde and his sensei.

"That was our meal ticket!" one of the thugs shouted, several more giving a cry of agreement as they started advancing on the two exhausted ninja.

_-Thukk-_

A sharp sound was heard, an arrow embedding itself between the ninjas and the thugs. The thugs looked to the source, to see an absolutely massive army of villagers armed with fishing spears, pipes, and knives lead by Inari and Sakura. Inari held a crossbow and Sakura held a kunai, breathing heavily. "This is our village." Inari stated, his voice cold. "You are not welcome in our village."

Naruto smiled and crossed his fingers. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" He cried, five copies of himself appeared.

Kakashi nodded and made the same hand sign. _"I might not be able to make anything solid with my depleted chakra reserves, but a trick should work just as well."_ He thought as a sizable group of clones appeared next to him. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!"

The group of common mooks saw the villagers and the multiplying ninja, deciding that fleeing would be a really good idea right now as they turned tail and ran, flinging themselves off the bridge and onto their boats and leaving the village for good.

When the thugs had all fled, Sakura collapsed with exhaustion as half of the villagers vanished in little puffs of smoke.

Kakashi walked up to the fallen Swordsman.

"So it's finally over eh Kakashi?" Zabuza said as he looked up at the Copy-nin.

"Yeah..." Kakashi replied, looking out over the ocean and the clearing mist.

"I need a favor," Zabuza said as he looked toward "I want to see his face."

Kakashi replied as he lowered his headband over his Sharingan. "Of course."

Naruto looked up in surprise as snow drifted down from the heavens as Kakashi carried Zabuza to the body of Haku, laying him down next to his one true friend.

"Are you crying for me?" The swordsman whispered, reaching up to caress the cheek of the boy next to him. "I wish I could go to the same place that you..."

"Something tells me your wish will be granted." Kakashi said as as Zabuza passed.

Tears fell from Naruto before a sick gagging sound echoed through his head. _**"This is so sappy it makes me want to barf."**_

The blonde was about to scream at the demon before the sound of Kakashi speaking interrupted his thoughts. "Tazuna, may we use your home to rest up?"

"O-Of Course!" The normally drunk bridge builder stammered out as he watched the sensei of Team Seven walk over to the body of the raven haired ninja.

Kakashi bent down in front of Sasuke surprised to see the last Uchiha's eyes opened a crack.

Sasuke slowly and painfully sat up. "Where's N-Naruto... and that... M-Masked Ninja?"

"Your teammate is okay and our enemies have been defeated." Kakashi said before his voice gained a commanding tone. "Naruto, I need your help."

The blue eyed ninja blinked back tears as he hurried over to Kakashi-sensei. _"Sasuke was alive!"_ he thought to himself, relieved while a horrid voice in his mind made another retching sound.

"Naruto, I need you to help Sasuke back to Tazuna's house." Kakashi ordered. "I'll take Sakura back myself."

A look of worry flashed across the blonde's face. "Is Sakura-chan okay?" he asked, looking up at his sensei as his teammate's arm wrapped around his shoulder.

The Copy-nin eye-smiled at him. "Just a simple case of chakra exhaustion, some bed rest and she will be back on her feet." he explained as he walked over to help Sakura up.

With that, Team Seven started back to Tazuna's House for some well deserved rest.

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

So I was working on the chapter when all my work became blank. What turned out to be a simple case of updating the editor was what I thought at the time as an error that got rid of my work before I had saved it. I posted it a bit early to redownload it and complete it.

Thank you for the feedback I have received so far, it means a lot to me.

Yes I got the ordering wrong on those last few scenes, and I made Sakura do something useful.

I see no reason that an illusionary clone can't be transformed to look like someone else.


	2. Chapter 2

Why bother thinking I own the characters, It will only end in the oddities such as this.

**Demon Speaking/Jutsu**

_Thinking/_**_Demon Thinking_**

* * *

><p>Naruto's eyes slowly opened, the sound of birds singing greeting his lying form. The blonde righted himself and looked around, surprised to find that Sasuke still lay in his own futon. <em>"I'm actually up earlier than Sasuke!"<em> he thought to himself, a grin appearing across his features as he stood up to get ready for the day.

Kakashi looked up as the blonde haired ninja walked down the stairs of Tazuna's home. "Glad to see that you're finally awake." He said in a calm voice as he closed his orange book. "There is some food on the counter."

Naruto took a large portion of food before sitting down across from his sensei. As he ate he became aware of the emptiness of the house. Usually Tsunami would be cleaning the kitchen, or folding clothes for her grandfather. Inari would also be around, too young to help Tazuna on the bridge. "Where is everyone, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Oh, they're out working on the bridge." The Jonin stated calmly, making a hand sign.

The blonde tensed as he heard the songs of the birds outside die down. "K-Kakashi-sensei?"

"How are you feeling Naruto?" The Copy-nin said suddenly, his voice strict as if he were giving an order rather than asking a question.

"Um... I feel fine..." Naruto asked, the worry evident in his voice. "Why do you ask?"

"Naruto." The Jonin was now scaring his student. "Look at your shadow."

The blonde looked down at the shadow that covered the table, wondering why his hair was so smooth, why he seemed furry, why he had rabbit e- _"Wait..."_ Naruto turned his head, his shadow's large muzzle appearing, its mouth dropping with the blonde's. The young ninja quickly moved his hand to feel for the appendages that his shadow showed, only to grasp at nothing while his shadow's clawed hand grasped at one of the nine tails behind it. Finally, Naruto closed his eyes, and screamed inside his head. He did not have to wait long, as an internal demonic roar greeted him.

_**"What do you want now Brat?" **_The voice spoke, each word dripping with ill-intent.

_"I have your freaking shadow!"_

Naruto could easily visualize the demon's confused look. _**"So? What do you want me to do about it?"**_

_"Get rid of it!"_

**_"No."_**

_"Why not?"_

The demon huffed, irritated again. **_"Two reasons: First; it shows your contract with me. Second-"_** Naruto could feel the monster grin its horrible grin. As it spoke, the amusement in its voice was obvious. _**"It shows that you're subservient to me."**_

Naruto frowned, a scowl crossing his face. _"Oh no, I am not subservient to you!"_

_**"You signed the contract Brat."**_

_"I didn't even see the contract!"_

_**"You didn't ask to see it!"**_

_"If people see the shadow, they'll panic!"_

**_"So what?"_**

Kakashi watched in silent fascination as his student seemed to be having an internal argument with himself.

_"People will think I'm possessed by you or something!"_

**_"Why do you care what others think?"_**

_"Because it will make my life harder!"_

**_"Don't care."_**

Naruto was fuming; unaware that his sensei was reaching for a sealing tag._"If the village thinks that I'm possessed, they will kill me and lock you away into another vessel."_

**_"So what? I'll just-"_**

_"One that will serve the village loyalty."_ Naruto interrupted.

**_"I'll just corrupt their mind, and take o-"_**

_"Maybe Sasuke."_ The blonde said almost casually.

The silence stretched on far longer than comfortable for the young hyperactive ninja. For the young ninja's sensei it was even longer, as he thought about placing the sealing tag on the bonde's forehead.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the demon spoke. _**"If I change your shadow back, you will be unable to access my powers."**_

"Naruto."

_"Then I'll grow strong enough to protect my friends without you or your powers."_

"Naruto!"

The voice of his sensei startled the blonde out of his internal conversation and looked up to find that his sensei was rather close to him.

Kakashi watched as his student fell backwards with as much grace as a collapsing building.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!" the young ninja said quickly, his fright allowing him to ignore the slight pain of falling backwards.

Kakashi internally sweat dropped. He hadn't meant to scare the kid, but if the blonde's new shadow was any indicating, something bad happened back on the bridge. "What happened?" he questioned, his tone holding with it the same sense of authority that the Copy-nin used when they fought Zabuza for the first time.

Naruto gave a nervous smile as his insides twisted into knots. _"What do I even say?... Oh, don't worry Kakashi-sensei; I entered into a contract with the Kyūbi, don't worry it won't kill my friends...That sounds awful!"_ He reached a hand up behind his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "W-w-what do y-you mean?" he stammered.

"Naruto, you need to tell me the truth, or..." The Copy-nin reached behind his back, ready to slam the sealing tag on the blonde. "...I'll be forced to take drastic measures."

"Wait!" Naruto held up his hands. "I'll tell, I'll tell, just don't kill me!"

Kakashi waited, internally cursing at himself for scaring the blonde even more. After about a minute he spoke. "Well Naruto, I'm waiting."

The bonde glanced to his right and left, his body language screaming its wish to leave this conversation. In the end though, he collapsed; scared and caught like a child whose lies were found out by his or her parents. "I... I made a contract... "

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "With?"

The blonde looked around again in hope of a distraction; unfortunately he found none and hung his head.

"Can you repeat that?" The copy-nin asked after the blonde mumbled something.

Naruto shrunk before the gaze of his sensei. _"Oh how I wish this never happened."_ He thought to himself before finally answering Kakashi-sensei's question. "Kyūbi."

Time seemed to stop as Kakashi stared at the young ninja. While outwardly he was not moving, mentally his mind was trying to find something to say. After about twenty minutes, the Jonin finally spoke. "When we get back to the village you are to immediately report to the Hokage; until then you are to work on the bridge with Tazuna, understand?"

"H-Hai!" The blonde nodded quickly before standing up and darting out of the room, happy to get away from the conversation.

Kakashi watched the young ninja go, his shadow matching the body that made it. After he could no longer see the blonde he sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. "This is troubling."

m.m.m.m.m.m

Naruto hopped through the tree tops heading to the bridge, his mind was a conflict of emotions.

_**"Brat."**_

_"Shut up Kyūbi, I don't want to talk to you!"_ The blonde screamed in his head as he touched down on a branch, stopping to vent at the demon. _"You've caused me enough trouble."_ The sound of wood snapping reached Naruto's ears as he fell, the branch having broken from his weight. _"What will the Old Man think when he learns that I made a pact with a demon?"_ Tears ran down his face as he lay on the ground, ignoring the pain from his body.

_**"Kurama"**_

Naruto blinked, confused. "W-W-What?"

The demon sighed. _**"If I am to be your sponsor we need to know each other's names."**_

Naruto sat up, and then screamed out loud at the demon. "I don't want you to be anything to me! You've thrown my life off with this stupid contract!"

**_"Naruto... Listen." _**

Naruto was taken aback at the suddenly calm serious tone in the demon's voice. Oh, and the fact it actually used his name for once.

_**"I entered this contract with you for a reason." **_The demon growled, remembering something unwanted. _**"There exists a... Masked Man... who has the power to command even a beast of my might. You would be nothing but a puppet to him."**_

_"But what does that have to do with a contract?" _Naruto stood up, the pain in his body slowly vanishing.

_**"He cannot command us when we are one. You as my apprentice, me as your sponsor."**_

_"One condition."_

The demon growled back. _**"What now Brat!"**_

_"You try to be civil; you don't talk down to me, I don't talk down to you."_

**_"I am the mighty Kyūbi no Yōko, I have no need to be civil!"_**

_"Then I'll teach you."_

**_"You dare?" _**The mighty demon roared. **"I will be the only one teaching you!"**

_"Really its your attitude that you need to work on Kurama-san" _Naruto replied as he continued to the bridge, deciding not to use the trees as his mind was more focused on his inner conversation, the demon screaming bloody murder.

b.b.b.b.b.b

Naruto walked along the bridge, his hands in his pockets. In truth team seven never really did any work on the bridge itself, after all their only job was to protect Tazuna. Once Sakura had offered to assist the workers, and Naruto still remembered the response.

_"Give us some credit ninja-san, we still have our pride as construction workers." One of the workers said as the others near him nodded. Sakura had offered to use her wall walking to help them along the underside of the bridge. Another worker spoke,"Yeah, just focus on doing your own job of protecting us from those that wish us harm. Let us focus on building the bridge." _

The blonde looked around at the workers as they performed their tasks with the sort of precision that comes from a lifetime of practice.

"Ninja-san?"

Naruto looked around, before finding the source of the voice. A worker with a bandaged face held something out to him. "What's that?" the blonde asked, taking the metal object from the worker.

The aged worker frowned. "We were hoping you could tell us that."

The young ninja turned to metal object over. "It's a kunai knife." He said, noting the damaged tip of it. "A heavily damaged kunai knife."

"We found it near the start of the bridge this morning." The worker explained.

The blonde looked towards the end of the bridge, which was a fair distance away. _"I wonder how it got..."_ Naruto's eyes widened. _"I threw a kunai through one of Haku's Mirrors...but there is no way that its this knife..."_

The worker watched as the blonde nervously laughed.

"Thanks, I'll dispose of it properly." The young ninja said, rubbing the back of his head.

The worker raised an eyebrow. "Well... Okay then." He said before resuming his task.

The blonde was still grinning as he was mentally screaming. _"Kurama!"_

It was a few seconds before the deep guttural voice of the demon responded, its irked tone reverberating off of the walls of Naruto's mind. _**"What."**_

_"What does the contract give me, without your teaching?"_ Naruto thought as he continued walking the length of the bridge.

The demon made an unholy roaring sound before replying. _**"Increased strength, flexibility, reaction time, speed, durability, and a burst of speed that can be equated to time itself slowing down."**_

_"That move..." _The blonde thought as he waved to a worker, a smile on his face._ "Why does it only happen when I dodge?"_

**_"When you dodge you immediately enter a state of hyper awareness due to my power." _**The demon explained, for once not directing its malice at the young ninja, although its voice was still filled with hatred.**_ "The closer you are to getting hit before dodging the longer it lasts. Sorta like a 'Thank all that is unholy I'm alive' reaction. It also happens when you call upon my power."_**

Naruto frowned at the demon's choice of words. _"What's it called?"_ He asked, his curiosity earning him an annoyed growl.

_**"I'm not telling you Brat."**_

_"Why not?"_

The demon crossed its massive arms. _**"So that you don't do that ninja thing."**_

_"What ninja thing?"_

**_"Calling your attacks." _**The demon declared, as if the answer was so obvious. **_"I mean really? Ideally you shouldn't even see ninjas in a ninja village, let alone hear them." _****  
><strong>

_"If we don't call out the names of our attacks, how will we intimidate our opponents?"_ The blonde retorted.

**_"But you don't need to do that! You said nothing when you transformed yourself into a Fūma Shuriken"_** The monster fox roared in its container's mind.

_"I needed to surprise Zabuza."_

**_"Because if you didn't he would have killed you in a second. You should utilize subterfuge all the time."_**

_"That won't mess with an opponents head."_Naruto replied before his ears received a sound that made him shiver. The demon was laughing.

After about a minute the demonic fennec managed to contain its mirth. _**"You want to mess with an opponents head huh?"**_

Naruto came to the realization that somehow it was better to hear the demon angry then to actually hear it laugh _"Um...yes?"_

The demon held back another snicker.**_ "Then I have the perfect fighting style for you! One that uses fluid motions to disturb your enemies, throwing them off balance with a barrage of unexpected kicks and punches."_**

_"I'm not liking that tone."_ The blonde thought to himself as he reached the incomplete end of the bridge; visualizing the horrid grin that the demon was wearing.

_**"Don't care Brat!"**_

Naruto was about to respond when a blinding light erupted from the sky, driving him to his knees. _"Wha... it's so bright..."_ he thought until an urgent voice screamed at him.

_**"Naruto, get under the bridge!"**_

The blonde looked around at the workers as they continued to work as if they sky had not just lit up with a blinding light. _"Kurama-san...what's going-"_ he couldn't complete the thought before the demon interrupted.

_**"Now!"**_

The blonde ninja quickly swung himself under the bridge, hiding his body from the sky._ "What's going on?"_

_**"The Hierarchy of Laguna."**_ The demon whispered the title, and Naruto noted with worry the tone of fear in the monster's voice. _**"Humans refer to them as angels, and they are divine beings from Paradiso. They have no doubt come to claim the souls of your deceased opponents."**_

_"Why can't anyone else see that light?"_

_**"Because they have nothing to fear from it. The light of Paradiso judges those it falls upon, and to the unworthy it makes its presence known so that they may make peace before they are killed."** _The demon explained. _**"By forming this contract with me you are immediately ranked as an unworthy. Inferno has a claim on your soul that the angels would be happy to fulfill as soon as possible."**_

_"Wait, is Paradiso like an afterlife or something?"_ The blonde-haired ninja asked, his eyes still aching from the light.

_**"Paradiso is what you call the Pure Land. A paradise that those that have died are sent to." **_The demon stated, its voice saturated with fear. _**"In my might I could easily deal with angels, but sealed away as I am now, I can do nothing."**_

_"Then what should I do?" _

**_"Remain hidden when you see the light fill the sky and don't offer up prayers for anything or anyone." _**The demon commanded, its tone shaky at best. _**"Humans don't realize that their prayers are heard everyday, in your case they will be able to sense our contract."**_

Naruto nodded as the blinding light seemed to dim. _"What if they spot me?"_

**_"They will draw you into Purgatorio where their weapons can freely hit you."_**

_"How do I escape?" _The blonde asked, hoping for some good news.

The demon as silent as its sponsor climbed back onto the bridge.

Naruto waved away the strange looks he received after he had thrown himself off of the bridge for no reason. He smiled as he saw Tazuna approach him. "Hey Tazuna-san."

"What was that about Naruto, throwing yourself off the bridge like that?" The sober bridge builder asked, a look of concern on his face.

The blonde ninja nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you see I'm going crazy not doing anything, so I figured I would do some training to pass the time!" He said with a grin.

"If you're going to be doing training on my bridge you're welcome to it as long as you don't damage the bridge." Tazuna stated as the young ninja's eyes widened.

"Are you sure Tazuna-san?"

"You and your team are heroes to us." Tazuna said with a grin.

"Thanks!" The blonde said as he jumped off the edge.

The bridge builder turned back to his workers, the fact that his sudden frown was all that was needed to make them resume their work giving the man an even bigger grin.

Naruto ran underneath the bridge, still waiting for the demon's reply. When he had almost reached the halfway point, he got an answer.

_**"Escaping from Purgatorio is difficult as you are now.**__**" **_The demon explained, its voice not as terrifying to the blonde as before. _**"It requires the ability to change your dimensional standpoint."**_

_"My what now?"_

The demon sighed. _**"You need to be able to open a doorway into Purgatorio, or else you can't get out of it when you are trapped."**_

Naruto frowned as he thought about what the demon said. _"I need to learn this as soon as possible Kurama-sensei."_

_**"Of course you d-" **_The demon paused as it thought about what its jailor said. _**"Sensei?"**_

_"Yeah, your training me now."_

The mighty demon roared. _**"You are to call me by a name fitting of my power. You will refer to me as Kurama-sama."**_

_"Only if you call me Naruto-kun."_

**_"We are not friends!"_**

_"Of course Kurama-san!"_

Naruto chuckled to himself as the demon screamed for his blood.

p.p.p.p.p.p

"You're kidding right?" The blonde said out loud in the clearing, his shadow that of the demon he was empowered by.

The very same clearing that he had met Haku.

_**"I gain nothing by lying to you about this Brat." **_The demon replied, obviously irritated that his container was complaining about the first few steps of the technique.

"Twenty-seven handsigns, followed by pointing my finger and making a circle with my arm?"

_**"If you get good enough at this you'll be able to skip some steps."**_

Naruto groaned and started performing the handsigns, his motions sluggish as this was his first time.

_**"It's Rat-Snake-Ram-Tiger, not Rat-Snake-Tiger-Ram. Start over."**_

"But they're so similar!"

_**"No they're not, and this is how you humans learned to focus your spiritual energy, so stop complaining."**_

The blonde would continue practicing well into the evening.

_**"Good, now try not messing up this time."**_

While being constantly irritated by a little voice in his head.

_**"You're pointing your finger incorrectly; you must keep it rigid, like a kunai knife when you're cutting into the flesh of an enemy."**_

A voice that had a variety of dark metaphors.

**_"Good, you got the handsigns right, Now do it again only faster."_**

But eventually, progress was made.

_**"Congratulations Brat, You successfully made an opening into Purgatorio.**__**"**_

Naruto frowned, sweat dripping down his face as he looked around. "Um...I'm not seeing it." he said as he looked around at the trees as they bathed in the sunset. A slight breeze drifted through the air

The demon somehow made a smirking sound. _**"Well of course not, It was so tiny and pathetic that it was barely able to be considered stable. The only thing you could have stuck in it would be a strand of hair."**_

Naruto groaned in frustration. He was tired, his arm hurt from doing that stupid twirly motion that the demon demanded of him, and; most importantly, he was hungry.

_**"Do it again."**_

"No." Naruto sat down, crossing his arms. "I'm going back to Tazuna's house."

_**"Oh no your not. You continue practicing until I say-"**_ The demon was interrupted by a deafening roar that rendered it quiet for a minute.

Naruto placed his hand over his stomach.

_**"Okay fine, we will continue this tomorrow."**_

With that Naruto grinned and stood up, walking back the bridge builder's home.

h.h.h.h.h.h

Sasuke frowned upon seeing Naruto enter the room panting.

"Naruto, just what were you up to?" Kakashi said, even though his eye was occupied with an orange booklet.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head. "Eh... just wanted to get some training in." He said with a chuckle, before smiling at his now awake teammates. "Bout time you-"

**_"Cha!"_**

Naruto held his now smoking head, while Sakura clenched her fist above him. "That's for not telling anyone where you were!" She screamed. "Kakashi-sensei made me look for you alone because Sasuke-kun's still recovering!"

Sasuke closed his eyes once in agreement, his bandaged face showcasing his frown at the reminder that he was the only one injured.

The pink-haired kunoichi continued her rant. "As a team we need to be responsible for each others safety, So next time you go running off you better tell us where you are!"

"Heh...Sorry." The blonde said meekly, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. "I'll make sure to do that next time Sakura-chan" The blue-eyed ninja promised as he filled his plate to the brim, before kneeling in front of the table.

Sasuke and Sakura watched in morbid fascination as the blonde devoured the o-nigiri, his mouth not even empty before he placed more food onto his plate.

Kakashi was ignoring the spectacle, having been to warned of its almost hypnotising appearance from Iruka. As an orphan, Naruto had gotten used to eating as much as he could when he got the chance. Add that into his status as a jinchūriki, and he was an eating machine. "Naruto, I'll be sending a shadow clone to watch over your training tomorrow." he said, before a sound interrupted him, causing him to glance up from his orange book as the blonde entered a coughing fit.

Luckily this broke the trance that Sasuke and Sakura were in. Both of them quickly stood up and left to go to bed, not wanting to witness the rest of Naruto's eating.

Naruto went to get himself a glass of water. By the time he managed to down it with some difficulty, his throat was rather sore. "What?" he rasped, looking up towards his sensei.

"Tomorrow, I'll be using a shadow clone to watch over your training." Kakashi said with a firm voice.

"Why?"

"To make sure you're training yourself properly." Kakashi said with an eye smile. _"And to see just what you have been practicing." _He thought.

* * *

><p>Author Note:<p>

Wooh, another chapter! Sorry if it's a bit shorter than the last chapter, I just felt like this was a good stopping point. Next up: Training under Kakashi's watchful eye.

I really appreciate reviews because it shows that people are willing to take time out of their lives to offer me some feedback.


	3. Chapter 3

Why bother putting a disclaimer on **every** chapter? Copyright is placed in the beginning of a book after all.

**Demon Speaking/****Jutsu**

_Thinking/_**_Demon Thinking_**

* * *

><p>Light streamed into the room, hitting Naruto perfectly on his face. The blonde groaned and rolled over, not really wanting to get up right now. A creaking sound caused Naruto to open his eyes to a sea of yellow that covered the floor around him. He reached out a hand from beneath his covers to feel the strange substance, his fingers feeling the strange fibers. He sat up, freezing when he felt additional weight upon his head. the blue eyed ninja slowly looked behind himself to find that the strange substance was his hair. He screamed, both inwardly and outwardly.<p>

_**"What now?" **_a familiar voice roared back at him, its tone just as dripping with hatred as normal.

Naruto whipped out a kunai while his literal inner demon to give an irritated growl.

_**"What are you doing?"**_

The blonde positioned the kunai behind his head.

_**"Wait, no don't do that!" **_The monster fox roared in protest, but its voice was ignored as the blonde started cutting through his flaxen lengths, shortening them.

Kakashi sighed. Having assuring Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna's family not to worry about his blonde student's scream, he had headed upstairs to Naruto's room. "Naruto what-" The Copy-nin froze, staring in surprise at the scene before him.

The blonde turned to look at the sound of the door opening, a look of worry upon his face. Surrounding him was a carpet of golden strands, positioned around his futon like the rays of the sun.

Kakashi blinked.

Naruto opened his mouth as if to say something, his eyes searching for something to say.

The Copy-nin silently unclipped a scroll pocket of his vest and offered Naruto the contents. "I'm not sure what happened here, but you should clean this up."

Naruto nodded weakly and accepted the scroll, opening it to reveal a kanji for seal.

The copy-nin sighed upon seeing the confused look on Naruto's face. "You place what you wish to seal on the scroll, then simply pulse chakra through it."

"Oh." the blonde replied, before he started gathering up the hair.

Kakashi remained calm on the outside as his mind was working a mile a minute _"Now his hair is growing overnight... could the contract be to blame? And for what purpose?"_

Naruto placed his hands on the seal, a pulse of chakra shooting through it. The seal glowed briefly as the hair was sucked inside of it. "Huh... that was easier than I thought..." The blonde mumbled, unaware of the uzumaki clan's natural sealing abilities.

_**"You moron..." **_the malicious voice stated.

Sasuke glanced up as the blonde ninja walked down the steps with Kakashi behind him.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Tsunami asked as she looked up from the dishes she was cleaning.

The blonde chuckled as he put his hand on the back of his head. "Yeah... I'm fine, just stubbed my toe is all."

Inari looked up from where he was fixing his crossbow. "Why do ninja wear open toe sandals anyway?"

Sakura was the first to respond. "So that we don't have to worry about foot fungus."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, and inner Sakura congratulated herself on the recognition.

Inari and Naruto offered the konichi a confused look.

Sakura sighed and started to explain. "Foot fungus thrives in moist, poorly ventilated areas. In battle, it's common that a Ninja might have to deal with a variety of terrains such as woods, deserts, rivers, even oceans in some cases. Some jutsus can even change the battlefield itself to your opponent's advantage, and a ninja would need footwear that felt both comfortable when wet and could easily be dried off with something like a cloth." Sakura crossed her arms. "If a ninja's distracted, it could easily mean death. hence why we protect against foot fungus."

"But why not just carry medication?" asked Tsunami, having finished the dishes and sitting down next to her son.

"A ninja is already pressed for space, and while sealing scrolls can help with that you can't unseal anything without giving off a chakra signature, which an enemy can find." the intelligent kunoichi supplied. "And ninja live on their feet. A leg injury is considered far worse than a broken arm."

The room was silent as the occupants digested what Sakura had said.

"Very good Sakura." Kakashi said as he sat down, a certain orange book already in his grasp. The copy-nin read about three pages before he became aware that the room was deathly silent except for the sound of Naruto eating. Kakashi sweatdropped as he saw that everyone was watching the eating blonde with a mixture of wonder and horror, like one would a bad caravan accident. _"His teammates are going to have to get used to this..."_ he thought to himself as he continued reading.

_"Hey Kurama." _Naruto mentally called in his mind.

_**"You're an idiot..."**_

The blonde shoveled more food into his mouth as he ignored the insult. _"Why were you so concerned about me cutting my hair?" _

The demon crossed its arms, or rather Naruto felt it cross its arms. Feeling what something was doing in your head was a strange experience.

_**"It was the next step."**_ the voice growled, hatred dripping from its speech.

_"Next step in what?" _the blond asked, as if such levels of malice where not there.

Another growl, _**"Your training. Your body as it is now is not strong enough to handle my power. You need to have some form of armor to protect you."**_

Naruto swallowed, having utterly demolished another plate. _"What does my hair have to do with that?"_ he asked as he reached for more food, the memory of his shattered hand still fresh in his mind.

_**"Human hair is stronger than human bone." **_the demon explained. _**"With my power infused into it, human hair is even stronger."**_

_"Wearing my hair as armor huh..." _the blonde imagined himself covered in hair. _"Urg... I think I'll pass."_

_**"It won't look like hair when you're wearing it." **_the demon replied. _**"More like one of your pathetic human made outfits"**_

Naruto imagined himself wearing golden Anbu armor, catching the sun's light. The irony was not lost on him.

_**"You're wearing orange now."**_

_"True."_

The nine-tailed demon growled. _**"This armor will strike terror into the hearts of your opponents!"**_

The blonde shivered as the image of him wearing spiked golden armor wreathed in flames came to mind as he shoved more food into his mouth. _"I could always save up some money for actually armor that isn't golden."_

The fox demon growled. _**"You're pitiful human made armor would be ineffective if you were to utilize my gifts in full."**_

_"Why?"_

**_"Because my gifts will result in you being able to move at high speeds longer than what simple dodging will get you, my gifts will let you take to the air as the winged creatures of the sky do." _**the demon declared, and the blonde could feel the chakra beast swelling its chest with pride, or maybe that was its ego?

_"I could learn how to fly?" _the blonde thought as he finished his plate and reached for more. Imagine him, Naruto Uzumaki, flying! Oh the chaos he could cause with that.

_**"Of course, I am the most powerful of all the **_**_bijū!" _**the demon replied.

Yep, that was its ego.

Naruto's thoughts of flight were interrupted when he remembered the original topic. _"Hold on, you said that wearing armor made by people would be ineffective if I used your power."_

_**"Of course, human made armor would shatter from your strength, just like that kunai of yours. Furthermore, other issues would present themselves as you practiced more of my gifts."**_

_"Like what?"_

_**"I'll tell you after you master getting to Purgatorio."**_

_"Come on tell me!"_

**_"Get back to training Brat." _**the demon growled back.

The blonde ninja finished his third plate, before standing up. "Well, I'm gonna get back to training." he announced loudly, breaking the trance that his teammates had been put under.

Kakashi nodded and make a cross hand sign. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**" the copy-nin said, the clone appearing.

"I'll watch over your training." the clone said.

The blonde nodded and walked out of the house, heading back to the training ground.

_"How the hell is the dobe uninjured? What is his training like?" _the last Uchiha thought to himself as he watched his blonde teammate leave.

_"I wonder if Sasuke would like to train with- No; he's injured." _Sakura frowned, a sad look in her eyes. _"And I can't do a thing to help him."_

p.p.p.p.p.p

Kakashi leaned against a tree, his orange book in front of him. While the initial accessing of the demon's power by his student nearly caused him to slam a sealing tag on the blonde due to the wave of demonic malice that had radiated out of him initially, he was now somewhat relaxed as the malice was gone and Naruto continued to perform a string of hand seals that ended in him sticking his arm straight out in front of him and making a circle with it. All in all it was the most telegraphed thing Kakashi had ever seen, and he was beginning to wonder if the fox just wanted the blonde to die in combat.

Naruto meanwhile, was having difficulties.

_**"Still unstable, do it again."**_

Rather vocal difficulties.

_**"You're terrible at this."**_

The blonde grit his teeth as he moved through the hand seals again.

_**"Faster."**_

Naruto thrust his arm out before making a circle with it.

_**"You call that a circle?"**_

"Cut me some slack!" the blonde cried, seemingly yelling at no one. "I've been out here for like three hours!"

Kakashi looked up at the sound of Naruto shouting. That was the other aspect of this training that had caused him worry when he learned of it. Naruto had a bad habit of yelling at the demon when he got frustrated, confirming that he was able to speak with it.

"I'm trying the best I can Kurama!" the blonde continued.

That caused the former anbu to raise an eyebrow. _"So the Nine-tailed Fox has a name..."_

_**"Your best is awful, get better." **_

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh. "Could you at least try to be nice?"

The demonic fennec was silent for a minute while Naruto resumed making the hand signs. After the blonde finished the demon replied. _**"That was almost not the worst attempt I've ever seen."**_

Naruto reengaged in the shouting match with himself while his sensei returned to his book.

"You're terrible at complements!"

_**"You are undeserving of my praise you insufferable Brat!"**_

"Damn it, I don't even know what I'm trying to even do!"

_**"You're trying to open a portal to Purgatorio, or have you forgotten Brat?"**_

"How?"

_**"I told you, perform the handsigns and make a circle with your arm!" **_the demon roared._** "A kit has a better memory than you!"**_

"How the hell does making hand signs and twirling my arm help with opening a portal?"

Kakashi looked up from his book at the mention of a portal. _"A space-time technique?"_

The monster fox growled. _**"Just get back to practicing Brat."**_

"Fine!" Naruto shouted, the irritation obvious in his tone and body language before he resumed making the hand signs.

_**"Too sloppy, start over."**_

The blonde let out a frustrated cry before starting over, his movements a little cleaner.

The copy-nin lifted up his hitai-ate and looked at the blonde with his Sharingan. What he saw caused him to close his book.

Naruto was channeling chakra into his right hand with the hand seals. When he thrust the hand forward with the pointer finger extended, the chakra would form a point that seemed to puncture something. When he made the circle, a trail of chakra would stay behind. Kakashi continued watching, his mind working on trying to figure out the nature of the strange technique.

"Damn it!" Naruto cried, having failed again, though he himself was unaware of how he failed.

Kakashi saw what had the blonde couldn't. Naruto had formed a circle like shape, but failed to connect the ends together.

The blonde repeated the technique, and the Copy-nin saw the same thing happen.

Naruto gave an annoyed sigh and began to start over.

"Naruto." Kakashi said, causing the blonde to look in his direction. "I want you to add another rotation onto the end after you make the first."

"Um... Okay Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said with some confusion as he started the hand signs again.

_**"Why are you listening to him?"**_

_"Because Kakashi-sensei is nicer."_

The copy-nin watched as the chakra built up in Naruto's hand, the Sharingan analyzing the hand seals. Kakashi watched as his loudest student thrust his finger forward and formed a circle of chakra, then the second circle, causing the two circles to overlap.

Naruto's eyes widened along with Kakashi's as a red symbol appeared in front of the blond, it's edge just missing the blonde's finger. The symbol consisted of two red rings, the one inside the other slightly smaller, the space between them filled with blood red glyphs. In the center of the inside ring was a familiar spiral shape. The Copy-nin recognized the spiral in the symbol, for he had it on his left arm's sleeve. _"That _symbol_... it's... it's the Uzumaki clan symbol! That would make this an Uzumaki sealing technique... but for what?"_

Naruto had other thoughts, _"Okay, I drew a weird red thing in the air, now what?"_

_**"It's a portal Brat."**_

_"Okay... so what do I-"_

_**"Jump through it." **_the demon interrupted.

_"Um... Why?"_

**_"Just do it. You'll be fine."_**

_"If it's a portal then the question becomes where-_ Kakashi's thoughts were interrupted as his student vanished, the portal closing. _"Oh Crap."_

w.w.w.w.w.w

_**"Welcome Brat, to Purgatorio!"**_

Naruto looked around, a slight breeze moving through the trees.

_"It's..."_

_**"Yes, without my power you would have been unable to find it!"**_

_"It's..."_

_**"Bask in the glory of my migh-"**_

"It's the exact same!" Naruto screamed.

_**"What!"**_ the demonic fox replied in the same tone as its jailer, only with more bloodlust. _**"No it's not you little Brat!"**_

"Yes it is!" the young ninja declared, crossing his arms.

Truth was the forest was virtually unchanged, not a leaf out of place. In fact the only major change was the absence of a certain sensei.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

_**"I'll get to that, but first quite down and l**__**isten."**_

"No, tell me where Kakashi-sensei is."

_**"Shut up you little insufferable brat!" **_the massive demon roared.

Naruto, more in an effort to humor the demon, quieted down. _"Well, I'm waiting Kurama-kun."_

The demon resisted the urge to scream at the brat who had the gall to call it a friend._** "Listen for the animals..."**_

The blonde closed his eyes and focused on listening to the sounds of the birds. _"They're right th- wait... what the..."_

The forest was eerily silent; not a single sound was heard except for the wind.

_"It's quiet."_

_**"Purgatorio does not have living things in it." **_the demon explained. _**"Just the ghosts of their form"**_

"It's a little eery..." the blonde remarked as he looked over at where his sensei was standing, or rather where a phantom of his sensei's from was. Naruto watched as the apparition of the copy-nin made a hand seal. Suddenly a section of chakra left the phantom and seemed to create another copy of Kakashi-sensei. The blonde widened his eyes as the second copy vanished, the chakra returning to the first.

_"What was that about?"_

**_"Probably one of those human clone techniques."_**

_"Why could I see the chakra?"_

_**"Think back to what the pink haired human said about the nature of chakra."** _the fox grumbled in response.

_-Flash Back-_

Team seven stood in the forest, the grass still damp with dew.

"Chakra is the combined essence of the spiritual energy and physical energy stored in the mind and body respectively." Sakura said, handing Naruto a scroll as she entered full on lecture mode. "After you combine them, you can store the resulting chakra in your chakra coils."

"Very good Sakura" Kakashi said with a deadpan look. "Now to increase the amount of spiritual energy and physical energy that you have, you must-"

Sakura interrupted, her sensei staring at her with a tired expression as she continued. "Spiritual energy is increased through meditation and experience, Physical energy is increased through training and exercise.

"Very good Sakura" Kakashi said absentmindedly while he read his orange book. Crutches or not, there was no way that he would miss the exciting climax of his favorite series.

_-Flash Back End-_

Naruto sat down on the ground. _"So I can see chakra now?"_

The response was immediate and short. **_"No."_**

The blonde was silent, awaiting more of an explanation.

The wind blew gently through the trees, the calm rustling filling the otherwise silent world.

Naruto crossed his arms as he waited for the demon to continue.

After about a minute of silence the blonde got fed up and spoke. _"Well Kura-"_

_**"You're seeing the spiritual essence of chakra."**_ the demon interrupted.

_"Why were you so silent?"_

_**"So I could annoy you."**_ the demon replied, its voice smug.

Naruto growled, a tick mark appearing on his forehead before the fox's words sunk in. _"Wait, so I can see Chakra."_

_**"You really can't." **_the demon explained. _**"Just the spiritual aspect of it, called Yin Chakra."**_

_"Yin?"_ Naruto asked, confused. _"What's that?"_

The loud sound of a massive furry hand meeting a large forehead sounded in the blonde ninja's mind. _**"Did you ever pay attention in that academy of yours?"**_

Naruto frowned. "Of course I did!"

The demon was silent for a bit before responding. _**"Listen closely you lying brat. Yin chakra creates existence while Yang chakra breaths life."**_

_"I'm not-"_

The nine-tailed fox interrupted. _**"Here is an easy way to remember it, Yang breaths, thus it is physical. Yin does not so it is spiritual."**_

Now it was Naruto's turn to be silent.

**_"Write your name on the ground." _**the tailed beast commanded.

Naruto raised a brow. _"Um... Why?"_

**_"Just do it and watch your sensei."_**

The blonde knelt down and started writing his name, watching in surprise as his sensei seemed to watch his writing.

_**"What you think of as objects in your material world**_**_ may have a different appearance in the different realities." _** the demon stated, crossing its arms.** _"When these objects are interacted with in one world, they are _****_interacted with_****_ in the same way in all."_**

_"What does that even mean?" _Naruto asked, ignoring the sigh of frustration from his demon.

_**"It means if you carve your name on the ground, then your name is carved in all realities. Hence your sensei can see it."**_

_"Hmm" _the blonde thought for a moment. _"So can Kakashi see me?"_

_**"No."**_

Naruto nodded as he started doing the hand seals again to leave.

_**"What are you doing Brat?"**_

The blonde paused, _"I'm heading back."_

The demon snarled in reply. _**"Why?"**_

_"I don't want Kakashi-sensei to worry about me." _Naruto replied. "_Just let me tell him okay?_"

The demon was silent as it's jailer finished the seals and jumped through the portal again.

m.m.m.m.m.m

"I'm going for a walk; I'll be back soon"

Sakura and Sasuke looked up at their sensei in surprise at the sudden declaration as he walked out of the door, the same thought entering their minds.

_"He won't be back until dinner."_

Kakashi waited until he was no longer visible to his students before vanishing using a shunshin. As he sped through the trees toward his clone he thought about the memories he had received._ "Naruto Uzumaki, performing a strange seal and then vanishing." _This was bad, really bad. Within a minute he had reached the training spot, only to see the same strange seal appear, the blonde in question jumping out of it. The former Anbu landed in front of his student, his clone dispelling itself. "Naruto." he said, his tone strict as he processed the memories returning to him.

"I'm back Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said with a grin as he looked up at his teacher; the smile vanished when he saw the look in Kakashi's eyes.

"From where?" the copy-nin said coldly, crossing his arms.

"Um...Purgatorio?" the blonde nervously replied.

"Which is?" Kakashi asked sternly. What the blonde said next caused him to promise himself to become more attentive of his students training.

"Another... um... dimension?"

Kakashi blinked, rendered speechless for the second time today.

Naruto stared at his sensei.

After a minute, the copy-nin found his voice. "Naruto, you are to explain to me the nature of what you are practicing before you practice it." he said, his voice strict and focused. "Do you understand?"

"Hai Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi crossed his arms while his student seemed to be listening to something. After about a minute of the blond getting an increasingly annoyed look upon his face Kakashi decided to interrupt. "What is it?"

Naruto sighed. "Stupid Kurama... wanting me to continue practicing."

The copy nin raised an eyebrow, a questioning look on his face.

"The fox wants me to master this portal thing." the blonde said as he resumed the hand seals.

_**"You're too slow. Make it faster."**_

"Says that I'm not fast enough at doing it." Naruto said as he stuck his arm out.

_**"You need to be able to make it without handsigns"**_

The blonde ninja blinked. "A technique without handsigns, is that even possible?"

Kakashi nodded. "Actually yes. In the Academy you're taught to focus your chakra in certain ways based off of your hand signs. If a ninja is skilled enough, they can forego the use of some hand signs but it takes a long time to get to that level of skill. In fact..." Kakashi placed his hand to his chin, "The Second Hokage could perform the **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **with only one hand sign.

The orange wearing ninja's eyes widened. "That water dragon thing?"

Kakashi nodded. "Around forty five hand seals, condensed into one."

Naruto grinned and clenched his fist in determination. "Well in that case I better learn if I'm going to become Hokage."

In Naruto's mind a retching sound was heard.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Sasuke glanced up as Naruto and Kakashi-sensei walked into the house around dinner time. Or rather Kakashi walked in carrying Naruto. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes as he saw the signs of chakra exhaustion in the blond. _"Just what has the dobe been up to?" _he thought to himself as the copy-nin sat down, placing Naruto on the floor.

"Well," Kakashi began, getting everyone's attention. "We'll be heading back to Konoha tomorrow."

Naruto groaned and sat up, inching over to the table.

Everyone else present immediately focused on their food.

Kakashi gave a hidden smile, _"Looks like they finally learned."_ he thought to himself while the sounds of the blonde demolishing his food began.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

And thus our story continues.

I really do appreciate well thought out reviews, or even words of encouragement.

Next Chapter: Meeting with the Hokage.


End file.
